Median prices hold during September
Sales in September in the city neighborhoods covered by Boston Homes reflected a glimmer of hope, as six areas reported higher median prices in year-to-year comparisons and eight neighborhoods reported higher median prices in a month-to-month comparison.
The Back Bay saw the most dramatic change, as sales began to close at the Residences at the Mandarin Oriental. Twenty-three were recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
The median sale in the Waterfront/North End/Financial District was at Folio at 80 Broad St. A one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 864 square feet of living space sold for $469,000.
The multi-million-dollar residences were delivered as raw space, and buyers are adding their own finishes, using exotic woods and stone. In the past other multi-million-dollar condominiums have been sold at pre-construction – or pre-completion – prices and required buildouts.
As a recent example, the early sales at Battery Wharf, which has a luxury hotel incorporated into the development, were sold to buyers who wanted to put their own imprint on their interior spaces.
(Last month, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced it would add a second flag in Boston and open the Fairmont Battery Wharf in December.)
The number of sales that were completed in September was considerably less than in August; however, in a year-to-year comparison, sales were higher in the Boston Homes neighborhoods – Back Bay/Midtown; Beacon Hill/West End; Charlestown; Downtown, which includes the Leather District, Fort Point and Seaport; the South End/Bay Village; the North End/Waterfront; Jamaica Plain; South Boston; East Boston and Dorchester.
The September median sale for the Downtown/Leather District/Fort Point/Seaport district was at 25 Channel Center. It was a 924-square-foot condo with a balcony, one bedroom and one-and-a-half baths that sold for $495,000.
The median sale price in the Back Bay/Midtown neighborhood was $995,000 for a 1,312-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and two baths at 280 Beacon St.
That compares to a year earlier, when a 1,271-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and two baths at 382 Commonwealth Ave. sold for $600,000.
In August, the median selling price was $637,400, which was for a 1,011-square-foot condo with one-plus bedrooms and two baths at the 285 Columbus Lofts at the corner of Clarendon Street and Columbus Avenue.
Charlestown had the next highest median sale price. A two-bedroom, one-bath condo at 59 Chestnut St. with 1,000 square feet of living space sold for $570,000.
A year earlier, the median selling price was $440,000. That sum bought a 943-square-foot duplex at Parris Landing that has one-plus bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths.
In August, the median selling price was $450,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 28 Concord St. with 860 square feet of living space.
In the South End/Bay Village neighborhood, median sale prices hovered around $500,000.
The median selling price in September was $504,000, which purchased a two-bedroom condo at 453 Massachusetts Ave. that has two baths and 1,127 square feet of living space.
By comparison, a year earlier, a 700-square-foot condo with one bedroom and one bath at 82 Montgomery St. sold for $525,000.
In August, an 802-square-foot condo with one-plus bedrooms and one bath at 2 Clarendon St. was the median sale. It sold for $490,000.
The Downtown neighborhood saw few sales, but they were about a half-million dollars. In September 2008, a 924-square-foot condo with one bedroom and one-and-a-half baths at 25 Channel Center sold for $495,000.
A year earlier, the median sale price was $440,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bath, 856-square-foot condo at Lafayette Lofts at 88 Kingston St.
In August a $541,000 condo at FP3 at 346 Congress St. was the median. It has one-plus bedrooms, two baths and 1,033 square feet of living space.
The area that comprises the North End/Waterfront/Financial District saw a median selling price of $469,000 in September.
That sum purchased a condominium at Folio at 80 Broad St. that has one bedroom and one bath and 864 square feet of living space.
A year earlier, the median selling price was $485,000, which was for a two-bedroom, one-bath condo at 7 Hull St. with 779 square feet of living space.
A month earlier, a 759-square-foot condo at the Broadluxe at 99-107 Broad St. with one bedroom and one bath was the median sale. Its price was $435,000.
However, it is difficult to calculate exactly what the median sale was in September for this neighborhood as a single entity purchased seven units at the Broadluxe for $2.935 million.
Those condos range in size between 637 and 702 square feet and have one bedroom and one bath, bringing the average selling price to $419,286.
In the Fenway, a one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 474 square feet of living space at 75 Burbank St. sold for $280,000, just under the September median selling price of $319,000 for this neighborhood.
A two-bedroom, one-bath condo at 76 West Cedar St. with 651 square feet of living space was the median sale on Beacon Hill in September. It sold for $426,000.
That is higher than a year earlier, when the median selling price was $402,000, which acquired a one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 548 square feet of living space.
In August, the median was $415,000 for a 756-square-foot condo with two bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths at 27 Temple St.
South Boston’s median sale in September was a 783-square-foot condo at 514.5 East Third St. that has two bedrooms and a bath, which sold for $368,000.
A year earlier, the median sale was a 924-square-foot condo with two-plus bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths at 111 West Eighth St. that sold for $365,000.
In August, it was a 905-square-foot condo at 662 East Seventh St., which sold for $360,000, that was the median sale. It has two-plus bedrooms and two baths.
The median selling price in Jamaica Plain in September was $352,000, a sum that purchased a three-bedroom, one-bath condo at 186 Amory St. with 1,280 square feet of living space.
That compares to a 1,202-square-foot unit with three bedrooms and a bath at 26 Perkins St. that sold for $375,000.
In August, the median sale was a one-bedroom loft at a former brewery at 251 Heath St. It sold for $329,000.
Both Dorchester and East Boston saw a median selling price of $235,000 in September.
In Dorchester, that amount purchased a 1,440-square-foot condo with three bedrooms and two baths at 38 Dix St.
A year earlier, the median selling price in Dorchester was $295,000 for a 1,230-square-foot condo with three bedrooms and a bath at 101 Hancock St.
In August, the median selling price was $251,000. That sale was a one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 802 square feet of living space at 1241 Adams St., which is part of the former Baker Chocolate mill buildings in Dorchester Lower Mills.
East Boston’s median sale in September was a two-bedroom, one-bath unit at 176 Princeton St. that has 895 square feet of living space. It sold for $235,000.
That contrasts with the $295,000 median selling price a year earlier, which purchased a two-plus bedroom, two-bath condo with 1,100 square feet of living space at 148 Horace St.
In August, the median selling price was $239,000. A one-bedroom, one-bath condo with 1,120 square feet of living space a 414 Sumner St. was the median sale.
